Mount and blade: Bannerlord is set 200 years before the original game in an imaginary land called Calradia. Effectively, there are still actions in a medieval environment with weapons, tactics, and armours along with the player. Although the context is fictitious, it relies heavily on medieval Europe, and thus follows the same social and technological structure of the times. Its benefit is a fictional context, however, as TaleWorlds Entertainment can compress maps to include desert, mountain and tundra.
The map will be divided between six factions: Calradians, Sturgians, Aserai, Khuzaits, Battanians and Vlandians. There will also be mercenaries, bandits, and barbarians to deal with the map. Each side will act differently, their weapons and tactics will be different, and their settlements will have different architectures, music, clothing and games. Some factions will be professional, while others may be more difficult, or better at launching ambushes.